# "Sorry I didn't call you on your birthday, but it was the Sabbath." WTF? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 28, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-i-didnt-call-you-on-your-birthday-but-it-was-the-sabbath-wtf/281935 "2004-12-28T15:18:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-i-didnt-call-you-on-your-birthday-but-it-was-the-sabbath-wtf/281935/41 "2004-12-29T02:42:37Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Of course, your brother could have stepped outside to a pay phone. Or, since **Lord Ashtar** ’s birthday was Friday, he had all day long to make the call, and could have done so before sundown. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-i-didnt-call-you-on-your-birthday-but-it-was-the-sabbath-wtf/281935/42 "2004-12-29T04:05:06Z")
Would you be allowed to use a Clapper? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-i-didnt-call-you-on-your-birthday-but-it-was-the-sabbath-wtf/281935/43 "2004-12-29T04:17:44Z")
The funny thing is that Ashtar gave Homebrew an enormous amount of shit for complaining about the annoying text-ridden christmas card his fundie relatives sent him. It is to laugh. Whatta nasshole. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-i-didnt-call-you-on-your-birthday-but-it-was-the-sabbath-wtf/281935/44 "2004-12-29T04:24:24Z")
> [@Loopus](#): > > What about Exodus 20:10? I still gotta ask (because I honestly don’t understand), how is making a phone call work? I mean, I understand that you can’t call your broker to trade stock or participate in a conference call, but you’re actually not allowed to call your family? > [@EJsGirl](#): > > Has it occurred to you that not eating pork around someone whose religion or belief system forbids it might just be good manners? I understand that and am down with that. But he walked around claiming he no longer ate pork because “it’s fucking _ **swine** _, dude!” He claimed to have decided to never eat pork again, then would walk to Subway and get a ham sandwich. That’s the kind of hypocricy I was talking about. > [@Mgtman](#): > > Maybe your brother just forgot? Maybe he got distracted or just plain forgot and then when he saw how much it meant to you he latched onto the “she wouldn’t let me” as a way of weaseling out of responsibility for his forgetfulness? This particular brother isn’t prone to lying. If he’d forgotten, he would’ve told me. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-i-didnt-call-you-on-your-birthday-but-it-was-the-sabbath-wtf/281935/45 "2004-12-29T04:27:13Z")
> [@essvee](#): > > The funny thing is that Ashtar gave Homebrew an enormous amount of shit for complaining about the annoying text-ridden christmas card his fundie relatives sent him. It is to laugh. Whatta nasshole. I don’t see the relevance. Methinks you need to reread **Homebrew’s** thread and what I said in it. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-i-didnt-call-you-on-your-birthday-but-it-was-the-sabbath-wtf/281935/46 "2004-12-29T04:31:20Z")
I have never rung either of my brothers on their birthday, in fact I’m not even certain that I know the younger one’s birthday. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-i-didnt-call-you-on-your-birthday-but-it-was-the-sabbath-wtf/281935/47 "2004-12-30T13:33:42Z")
I turned 14 on a Friday. That evening, my mom took me out to eat somewhere that didn’t have anything on the menu that I liked. Saturday, she got me a supermarket cake. On Sunday, she took me to a store to buy me a record album. The following week, we were at odds about something, as we usually were, and she accused me of being ungrateful for the “three-day birthday celebration.” I would have been perfectly willing to wait until Sunday for her to get her shit together. Then I could have had the cake, the present, and dinner (I also would have put my foot down about the choice of restaurant) all at the same time. **That** would have been a celebration. But that’s my mom. **She** thinks that presents are all there is to birthdays and Christmas. So if a shopping trip doesn’t make me deliriously happy for days, I “don’t appreciate anything she does.” And yes, I know there are other moms like that out there. I’m just saying. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-i-didnt-call-you-on-your-birthday-but-it-was-the-sabbath-wtf/281935/48 "2004-12-30T14:11:23Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > I have never rung either of my brothers on their birthday, in fact I’m not even certain that I know the younger one’s birthday. Heh. I have eight brothers and sisters. I can usually get the birth month right. The exact date? Forget it. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-i-didnt-call-you-on-your-birthday-but-it-was-the-sabbath-wtf/281935/49 "2004-12-30T14:19:07Z")
My sister’s birthday was yesterday and I nearly forgot to call her. She forgot to call our dad on his birthday a few days ago. BFD. We all love each other as is evidenced by the thousand ways we show it throughout the year. I don’t need a Hallmark card nor do I need a phone call to confirm what I know in my heart. People that get all bent over people missing their birthdays are a mystery to me. There are lots of ways to show someone you love them. Accept what love they offer you unconditionally and quit looking for reasons to get your feelings hurt or to hold a grudge. Unless you’re a kid, your birthday ain’t that big of a deal. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-i-didnt-call-you-on-your-birthday-but-it-was-the-sabbath-wtf/281935/50 "2004-12-30T14:28:38Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > I still gotta ask (because I honestly don’t understand), how is making a phone call work? In the more strict interpretation, closing a circuit so that current/signal can go through is the equivalent of lighting a fire, which IS part of the “work” that is not allowed (but for the aforementioned dire-need exceptions). In this context, “work” does not refer only to productive activity, but to many other forms of energy expenditure. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-i-didnt-call-you-on-your-birthday-but-it-was-the-sabbath-wtf/281935/51 "2004-12-30T14:56:17Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > What would be appropriate/inappropriate ways for that scenario to continue? Inappropriate: zev: Look, you sunuvabitch, just turn on the fucking lights. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sorry-i-didnt-call-you-on-your-birthday-but-it-was-the-sabbath-wtf/281935.md?page=2)